This 1861 work was published during the Taiping Rebellion, a vast political and religious revolt against the Qing dynasty of China that lasted for more than ten years. Very few books were produced in that period, thus publications from that era are rare. The chief author of this work was He Chunfa, minister of the bureau of punishments in the court of Gan Wang (Shield King), a title bestowed by Hong Xiuquan (1813–64), the Taiping leader, to Hong Rengan (1822–64), one of his cousins. In 1851, Hong Xiuquan ...